Challenges

Here are some examples of the problems and workplace challenges I have experienced and assisted with in different sectors.

Oil and Gas

Louise was selected to facilitate an annual strategic planning meeting for a newly established sub division team in the Oil & Gas industry. Louise worked closely with the sponsor to understand the unusual culture and unique issues of the business to maximise credibility with the individual team members and extract the most out of them. The team connected and came together for the first timeas a whole team face-to-face in the two days Louise spent with them. They freely shared their ideas and perspectives in what they said they considered was a safe environment and produced some excellent strategies for the region going forward.

Louise was then recommended for another division in the same organisation in the next quarter. This time the task was to produce a strategic plan for the section and also bring the team together for the first time in the same geographical location. Being a regional team for Asia Pacific/ Australasia, they were spread over several countries, states and time differences. Working in close consultation with the project sponsor Louise achieved the outcome they were looking for - becoming a real team, knowing how each person preferred to communicate and how they contributed to the team as a whole. The advantage of being an external facilitator enabled rapid results as a non-political and a neutral observer of the issues with the ability to direct the staff, capture the challenges, options and get the staff volunteering viable solutions. Considerable cost savings through non-duplication of services were voluntarily generated by the team coming together in this format.

Health

This challenge here was to assist the staff during the transition over to new systems and processes scheduled over a two year period. The current system was not sufficient for the volume of work currently experienced and the staff were suffering with productivity pressure, low morale and stress. Stress leave was increasing and public reputation as a service provider was decreasing. Louise designed a series of workshops to help the staff take control, be more accountable, improve individual accountability and problem solving and deal with the stress better during the transition to the new system. Resilience was enhanced and morale lifted. Results included immediate rectification of some of the issues that had been causing some long-term problems. Another outcome was the increased cooperation between departments resulting in higher productivity.